The Honorable Shinobi
by KeepCalmAndWatchAnime
Summary: SasuNaru! Sasuke Uchiha had no desire to marry TenTen, but being a royal means being forced into a marriage, whether you liked it or not. So to avoid the marriage, and to break apart from his family, he made a decision that would change his life forever. He basically volunteered as tribute for the hunger games. Only, the circumstances are much different. There will be lemons.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: At first, the beginning of this chapter seems like it is a rape scene, but it's not. It's actually a scene that reflects a part of Sasuke's character, to give a reader a better understanding of him. I apologize if things seem unclear or confusing, I'll continue to do my best to clarify things as the story goes on. I also apologize for any errors, please let me know if I made any. **

**Warnings: Lemon (Not a graphic one, but still a lemon)**

* * *

"Don't be so noisy", he whispered harshly in her ear.

He placed his hands over her mouth to keep her wanton moans under control as he plowed into her. Each violent thrust letting out the anger that boiled inside of him, that he struggled to control every day that passed on. None of what was going on was out of love or affection.

"Shhhh", he whispered as he went deeper and deeper inside. No, this was not rape. It was one hundred percent consensual. He was a gentle man, he was trained to be one. He was only aggressive when he felt like he had to be.

Finally, he climaxed, looking her dead in the eyes. No romantic connection, no "I love you", and she wasn't expecting it either. He made it clear to her from the beginning that this was simply a method to keep him under control. The amount of power he had in the Uchiha Kingdom was little to none, but the power he had on the mattress with the loyal, lovely, "innocent" maid who had been working for his parents for six years, was endless.

"I'm sorry", he whispered faintly.

"It's okay. I understand you"

The maid was right, she'd always been there for Sasuke. She was practically his cheerleader, always rooting for him in the background. The heart breaking part; she was in love with him, but he would never return the feelings. Even if he could marry who he wanted. He just didn't like her in that way. Sure, he thought she was beautiful, and she'd not once let him down, but nothing was there. It took a lot more than beauty and loyalty to impress Sasuke Uchiha. You had to be unique.

"But I am really sorry", he repeats. He hated apologizing, Uchiha's rarely ever did.

"I agreed to this. What is there to be sorry for?"

"You love me don't you?", he asks growing frustrated with her nonchalant attitude.

It was most certainly not the time to bring it up, but the guilt had been hurting him for a while. At first, he didn't think much of her feelings for him, even after she agreed to their secret nightly ritual. Without care, he did what he needed to do. She got her pleasure, he got his, but it wasn't until he fully matured that he realized how this might be hurting her. She was his sexual punching bag, close friend, and the Uchiha housekeeper. That was all she'd ever be to him.

"Of course I do, but I accept the fact that you can't return the feelings, and even if you did feel the same way, our marriage would be forbidden. I can't force someone to love me. So if this is as much affection I can get from you, I'll take it. Even if none of it is out of love. I'll have my temporary high for the day, the same one you feel, and then wake up in my bed reminding myself that nothing happened between us"

The words felt like ice chunks being pelted at his body, but they were words of honesty. He needed to hear them.

"Speaking of that", she said as she slowly pushed herself up.

"I should be heading back to my room now. Good night"

She kisses him on the cheek, and rolls out of bed, limping away like she always did after they had sex. Then, as carefully as possible, she shut the door behind her. That's when he finally did something he had never done in his life. He broke down in tears. He was an eighteen year old male, forced to live with his parents until he married (also forced to do this of course) that horrendous brunette who was madly in love with with Neji Hyuga. It had only now hit him hard that he was going to live the rest of his life hating himself and his soon to be wife.

* * *

At six in the morning, the raven decided to go out to the archery range, another way he got out his frustration. He'd been shooting arrows since he was six, and at this point he was so skilled that he rarely ever missed the bullseye. His accuracy was incredible.

"You must be angry"

He had been so busy shooting arrow after arrow, that he hadn't been paying attention to anything else. His brothers presence was not something he had sensed, it was hard to sense to begin with.

"Very angry", he retorts. Like always, he hit the target, and the sound echoed throughout the secluded grass area.

"I can understand why. In less than two weeks you are going to have to face bridezilla", Itachi jokes.

"I'm trying not to think about it", he replies through gritted teeth. Again, he hit the target.

"But don't you think it's healthier to talk about how you feel? It's something you rarely ever do, and I know how angry you are on the inside", his brother says in what Sasuke liked to call his "therapist" voice.

"I don't want to talk to anyone. Why do you think I come here so often?"

"Well, I know that only half the time you come here, it is because you are forced to. So I'm assuming that the times you come here out of your own free will, is to release some pent up anger"

His younger brother scoffs at him, and reloads an arrow, narrowing his eyes at the target.

"Some pent up anger", he retorted mockingly.

"Okay, a lot of pent up anger. The same anger I used to have. I know that you feel like a doll in a dollhouse, being moved around and forced to do things without being able to object, but I'm telling you that everything will be okay. You will marry TenTen and move on"

He ignores his brother, biting his tongue to prevent himself from exploding.

"Hell, I did it. I'm sure you can, you're an Uchiha afterall. We're strategists. We take the cards that are dealt to us, and we figure out how to use them to our advantage"

"Cut the philosophical shit. What are you trying to say", the youngest one demands.

"Always so impatient"

"You're wasting my time"

"Fine, what I'm trying to tell you is that if you want to be happy, you need to accept your fate, and change how you view your future. Your future is how you envision it, and how you envision it, is up to you"

"Okay", was the simple reply he received.

"I'll keep that in mind when I see my worse nightmare walking down the aisle in a wedding dress"

All Itachi could do was chuckle and leave his obviously pissed off brother alone.

"Just remember, you can change your future! Sometimes, it's not even how you look at it, it's the choices you need to make that can change it!", he says as he continues to walk further away from the skilled archer.

"Right", he said under his breath. But as sarcastic as he may sound, he knew Itachi was right. If he wanted to change his future, he'd have do something drastic. He had to figure out a way to live on his own, and make a decent living while doing so. The only question was "How?"

* * *

Unfortunately for Sasuke, he would not be eating breakfast in peace. His fiance and her rotten family were coming over, so he would spend more time talking about the wedding than eating his food. Go figure.

"Sasuke-kun!"

Her enthusiasm was way overacted as she ran over to him, wrapping him tightly in her arms. He faked a smile, and watched her parents nod at the sight before them, letting him know that they were meant to be together. That was far from the truth.

"I'm so sorry, I've been so busy lately. I wish I had more time to see you, but you know how things get. Ever since the press found out about our marriage, they've been bothering me about it ever since"

The speed at which she talked was far too fast for him to take in, it was like she had drank ten cups of coffee and then snorted a line of coke.

"Yeah, I know. They've been giving me a hard time too"

It was true, whenever Sasuke went out of the house, he had to go with at least six or seven anbu. The press would clobber him if he ever went out alone.

"It's terrible! And it's been so hard to leave the house without being attacked by paparazzi, and- and...I've missed you so much", she fake cries.

He tried really hard to suppress an eyeroll, and continued to put on the show for her parents. For dramatic effect, he kissed her on the forehead, a smart choice, seeing how happy her parents looked after it.

"We'll give you two some alone time", TenTen's mother said.

"TenTen, prepare something tasty for Sasuke. Show him what a good cook you are. No man wants a girl who can't cook", Fagaku said half jokingly.

The four finally left the room to go about their lives, leaving the fake barbie and ken couple alone.

"I'm not cooking you shit", she hissed as she finally took her hands off him.

"Good. I wasn't planning on throwing up or getting food poisoning today", he snorted.

"I'll have you know that I can cook!", she growled back at him.

He had already tuned her out, and she began to bark at him, like she always did.

"Are you listening to me?"

Sasuke refused to reply as he turned on the stove and took at a pan. He could cook for himself like he always did. He didn't like the idea of having a chef cook for him, let alone, his evil fiance.

"Dammit, I didn't want to marry you! This wasn't supposed to happen!", she complained.

"I was supposed to marry Neji! Hinata was supposed to be my sister-in-law! Why the hell would my mother set me up with an egotistical Uchiha!?"

It was true, Uchiha's were known for their ego's. They were prodigies after all, and even though none of them were shinobi, they were still trained to fight like them. Sasuke, Itachi, and Fagaku all could activate the sharingan, but only Fagaku could activate the mangekyou.

"I'm stronger than Neji. Your parents only want the best when it comes to your safety. Too bad, what they don't know is that if you were ever in danger I wouldn't bother to come to your rescue", he stated simply.

"You-you bastard!", TenTen choked out.

"Do you want some eggs and bacon?", he asked to change the subject. It was too early in the morning to argue with her. He wished he'd realized that sooner. Now she was going to go on a rant.

"I don't want a damn thing you cook! I want our wedding to be cancelled!", she whined in agony.

"That's one thing we can agree on", he grumbled under his breath.

"And we have to go everywhere together. Even tomorrow, we have to see each other again", she continued to whine.

"What? Why? I thought I wasn't going to have to look at your face for another three days", the Uchiha snaps. He was certainly not having a good morning.

"I know, but there's that stupid thing tomorrow...the honorary shinobi or whatever", she grumbled.

"Oh right, almost forgot that existed. Never bothered to know the details", he said brushing the meaningless topic aside.

"You mean you don't know about the honorary shinobi?", she asks as if he'd asked her what a refrigerator was.

"All I know is that people bet large amounts of money on who the winners are, and that the winners get a statue in their name"

"Winners get so much more than a statue! They get millions of dollars, they get glory, and they never have to pay taxes ever again! How could you know so little?"

Sasuke paused from what he was doing to take in all the information.

"Millions of dollars", Sasuke repeats.

"Yes! But it's not like it's easy. Only the strongest, most driven shinobi do it. There can only be three winners out of the fifty who are chosen to participate. Not everyone who wants to be an honorary shinobi gets to be in the trials"

"Hn. Interesting", he says as he continued to cook.

"Yeah, you gotta have a lot of guts to do something like that. There survival rate is less than ten percent"

"So, how exactly do they elect these people?", the curious raven asked.

"It's a lottery system. There's gotta be over a thousand people whose names are in the system", she replied dryly.

The raven watched the fatty bacon sizzle as he stood in deep thought.

"But getting your name chosen only feels like half a victory. Being lucky enough to survive is the other half"

* * *

TenTen left when the sun began to set, her parents shook his hand before they took off back to their billion dollar home. It was the biggest sigh of relief of the day. The air felt a lot easier to take in when the plague that was TenTen and her family weren't around.

Like always, Sasuke stayed alone in his room, isolated from everyone. He used to eat dinner with the family all the time, but as he grew up, it got harder for them to force him down stairs. He couldn't stand his father, his uncle, and their children.

"Sasuke"

The soft voice could only be his mothers, and there was a knock on the door.

"The door's open", he replied lifelessly.

When she walked in, she greeted him with the warmest smile he had seen all day. His mother was his weak spot, she could never make him angry or upset. She was the nicest one in the entire house, and he loved and respected her a hell of a lot more than his father did.

"Can we talk?"


	2. Chapter 2

He stops sharpening his sword and sighed, placing it down on his bed. With the gracefulness that she was forced to have since she was able to walk, she sauntered over and sat down next to him on his king sized bed. She kept the smile on her face, to show her son that he was not in trouble. Not that he would ever cause trouble to begin with anyways.

"What's the bad news?", he asked coldly. His mother laughs, but his face remains as serious as ever.

"Bad news? There is no bad news", she replied happily.

"Okay, so then what's the good news?"

"There is no good news either. I just wanted to have a mother to son conversation with you"

"Okay?"

"Oh come on Sasuke, don't act like we don't have anything to talk about. You're getting married soon! And to someone that I can tell you truely love"

The giddiness in her voice was making him sick, and he was debating on whether or not he should tell her the truth. But as he continued to look at her, and saw the joy in her eyes, he decided it was best not to. If he was unhappy, his mother was unhappy. It had always been that way.

"And I can't wait to see what my future grandchildren will look like", she said before nudging her son in the arm.

It was those words that made his stomach turn. If he didn't want to marry her, he sure as hell didn't want to reproduce with her. An image of what their children could possibly look like flashed through his head, and it only made him feel worse.

"Why are you being so quiet? Aren't you happy?"

Apparently, he wasn't faking his happiness well enough, so like always, he tried harder to put on a show.

"It's just so overwhelming you know? And….I'm so elated that I don't know the words to say. I'm so happy I get to marry the one person I love the most"

When the words left his lips, he realized how unreal they sounded. Even the most gullible person would realize he was lying, and as good of a liar as he was, he found it extremely difficult to lie to his mother.

"Sasuke", she said softly.

"Yes?"

"Are you lying to me?"

Nothing was more painful than hearing those words. If they were from anyone else, he would not care much at all, but the fact that his mother knew he was being dishonest made his heart ache.

"What? Why would I do that?", he asked in defense.

"You don't have to lie to me Sasuke. I know how it feels to have to marry someone that you don't want to marry"

It was no surprise to him that his mother was unhappy with her love life. Not once had he ever seen his father kiss her, hug her, or show her any other signs of affection inside the castle. It was only when they were around other people that they would put on a fake show.

"You may already be aware of this, but your father doesn't love me, and I don't love him either"

He nodded his head and frowned. He had suddenly come to realization that the relationship he would have with TenTen is the same one that his mother has with his father. It only hurt more now because he finally heard his mother's prospective on her relationship with his father. He'd only heard how other people described it.

"I wish I had something positive to say, I wish there was some good advice I could give you, but there's nothing. No good advice, no words of positivety"

There's a deep sadness in her voice that he had never heard before, and although she was not crying, she had the most disappointed expression he had ever seen in his life.

"I'm sorry Sasuke, just keep your head up. I know I'm only repeating what you've been told since you were a toddler, but it's the only advice I can give you", she said as she got off the bed.

"I love you", were the only words Sasuke could say.

"I love you too. No matter what. Don't ever forget that"

* * *

The next day was chaos. TenTen had arrived at his house early in the morning so they could go to the honorable shinobi ceremony, and the whole ride there she complained about how hot the carriage was and how she was dying of thirst every five minutes. She was right about it being too hot, even as the men with giant leaves fanned their faces, but it wasn't like Sasuke to complain. The unbearable heat, and the devil he was seated next to only made him feel like he was slowly descending into hell as each minute carried on.

"Sasuke, cool me down", she demanded.

"With what?!", he barked at her.

The man fanning his face gave him a look of pity, which is sad because it should be the other way around. But despite his job, he probably had a better life than Sasuke. He was most likely married to someone he loved.

"I don't know, use your hands!", she ordered.

"You already have someone fanning you", he shot back.

"Well it's obviously not working because it's still too fucking hot!", she shouted at him.

"Then jump out of the vehicle for fucks sake! We're in town, you can find a hotel to stay in, you can find a restaurant to get some refreshments!"

"Ha!", she snorted at him.

"Like I would even want to step into a place where I'd have to breathe the same air as commoners", she said with her nose in the air.

"Just like my father", he said under his breath.

His father despised commoners, as if they were the scum of the earth. In fact, he was complaining this morning about having to see so many today at the ceremony. He could never wrap his head around why his father felt that way towards them, or why anyone royal would.

"What did you say?", she snapped at him. There was a ten second silence, before she yelled at him again.

"I asked you what you sa-"

"I said you're just like my father, and that's why I can't stand you!", he finally shouted back at her.

The rest of the ride was silent, and when the carriage stopped, he felt like he'd been saved.

"We're here", one of the servants grumbled.

* * *

Getting from the carriage to the stadium was awful, as Sasuke expected it to be. It was loud, he had to hold TenTen's hand, and it was still scorching hot. It wasn't until they got to their private seats at the top of the arena that he began to feel more comfortable. He dreaded the fact that he had to sit next to his fiance, he would rather sit next to the commoners, but at least she had stopped complaining when they got to their reserved seats at the top of the stadium.

The first part of the ceremony involved a bunch of boring singers, baton twirlers, and the obnoxious strings of the Konoha Orchestra. After two hours of all the bullshit, he fell asleep, unable to take the torture anymore. It wasn't until he heard his fiance's squealing that he finally woke up.

"Look! Look! It's Princess Tsunade!", TenTen said as she jumped up and down in her seat like a five year old.

"What are you doing? And most importantly, what is she doing? Who is that man she's standing next to?", he asked sounding more irritated than he had the entire trip their.

"I don't know! And that man she is standing next to is Danzo! He's the creator of the trials, it was his idea to have the honorable shinobi trials!"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the old man who looked just as smug as an Uchiha. He was probably loaded, considering the profit he was making by making everyone who came in the arena pay. The tickets were probably very expensive, and the only people who got in for free were royals.

"Hn", was his only reply.

"Shhh!", his fiance ordered.

He hadn't said anything, and was growing very irritated with her child like behavior.

"What's so special about this stupid shit anyways?", Sasuke grumbled being the scrooge he was.

"What's so special? You know that people take this very seriously right? They place bets on who wins"

"How could they know who wins if they don't know their abilities? Do they judge them based off their appearance? Cause if so that's ridiculous", the Uchiha critisized.

"No you fool. Tomorrow morning turn on your television and go to channel seven. That's when they present their abilities to everyone. There's so much more to this than just the ceremony you're seeing today"

He rolled his eyes, and kept his mouth shut as he continued to observe carefully. Tsunade gave a pep talk about how much she loved her Country, which Sasuke did not find impressive, but everyone seemed to. When she finished the arena went wild. Sasuke was baffled, and even all the other royal families that were seated near him clapped and cheered too.

"And now, for the moment that you've all been waiting for", Danzo says.

It took a long time for the audience to quiet down, and Sasuke was growing very angry. He wanted to go home and never have to do this ever again.

"It is time to announce the winners of the lottery"

Again, the audience lost control, some had gone so wild that security had to escort people out.

"Everyone please calm down", Tsunade said into the microphone. Sasuke was surprised that it worked. The stadium's volume level went down.

"Thank you", Danzo said.

"But before I announce the winners, I have some bad news"

The audience gasped, and Sasuke could feel that what was about to be said would cause a lot of chaos.

"Last night, one of the lottery winners took their own life"

Sasuke looked over at TenTen, who was looking right back at him, only she had an expression of shock, and he had an expression of confusion.

"Why would they do that?", she asked him.

"I don't know", he replied.

"So for the first time ever, I am going to allow any audience member who wants to take his place to come down to the stage now"

Sasuke's eyes widened, as he realized the opportunity that was dangling right in front of his face. The only questions he had to ask himself was how he was going to get down there, and how he could do it without being held back by guards.

He stood up, hesitantly getting out of his seat.

"What are you doing?", his fiance asked.

"I have to go to the bathroom"

"You should've went before we came here!", she scolded.

"I've been here for four hours. I drank six glasses of water. What do you expect to happen?"

She sighed, shooing him away, clearly annoyed by him having to leave at the most important part.

"You're not going alone. Wait for the guards to escort you to the private bathroom reserved for royals", his father ordered.

"Where are the guards?", he asked impatiently.

"They went to the bathroom"

"I need to go, when will they be back?", he said growing even more impatient.

"You're going to have to be a big boy and wait", Fagaku snapped. Sasuke's face turned redder than the blood that was boiling inside of him. He couldn't take it anymore, and turning all the anger into strength, he ran away as fast as he could.

* * *

**A/N: Thanks for reading! Please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

He ignored his father and his fiance who screamed for him to come back. It only made him run down the stairs faster, even though he didn't really know where he was going. He ran into multiple people, some fan girls grabbed at him, slowing him down. For once he couldn't be the gentleman he was raised to be, and he had to push and claw at the crazy women. He was determined to get down there no matter what.

By the time he was a quarter of a way down, he saw the guards walking up the stairs. Surprisingly, they walked right past him since they were talking with each other and not paying attention, but when they realized people were shouting Sasuke's name they turned around to notice that he had flew right by them. The guards turned around and chased him, trying there best not to fall down the stairs while doing so.

"What the hell is he doing?", one guard asked the other.

"I don't know, but he's not the only one running down there", the other replied.

By the time the guards were down the very long and steep flight of stairs, Sasuke had already gotten on the stage where nineteen other people stood. He received shocked looks from just about everyone, and the people on stage began to complain that he shouldn't be allowed to enter the trials.

"Sasuke?", Tsunade asked in shock.

"I want to do this", Sasuke said as he panted heavily.

"He can't enter the trials he's a royal! He has enough money already!", an angry young woman shouted.

"Why?", was all Tsunade could ask.

Tsunade was horrified. She couldn't believe that he was about to get himself in a situation where he'd most likely die. It confused her that he'd give up so much.

"Because this is what I need to do", he said boldly.

He was still panting like a dog, and he was drenched in sweat and covered in cuts from when fangirls tried to snatch at him.

"Your explanation is not good enough! What the hell are you doing here?", another angry woman shouted.

"Sasuke, please...don't do this...what about your fiance?"

"What about her?", was his only reply.

"Don't you love her?!", Tsunade asked growing frustrated.

"No"

The people on stage gasped, and Sasuke was lucky that Tsunade had covered her microphone through the whole conversation.

"Is that really the only reason why you're doing this? To avoid marrying her?!", she asked outraged.

"No!", he shouted back.

"Then why?!", she yelled.

"Because I want to make something of myself!"

Tsunade went quiet, wanting to hear the rest of what he had to say.

"Because I refuse to live the rest of my life chained by a wedding ring, living a lie! I don't love TenTen! And I don't like being a royal! I want nothing to do with royals! And I'd rather risk my life than spend my life being one, trying to reach expectations I have no desire to reach only to be acknowledged by my family!"

Tsunade stood their wide eyes, along with everyone else on the stage.

"Tsunade...you should understand me better than anyone...do you really love the man you're married to?"

Still, she remained silent. Her parents would not be happy if they were on stage right now, because like every other royal forced into a marriage, she would be expected to lie. Instead, she kept her mouth closed, which was enough to answer Sasuke's question.

Danzo walked over, finally realizing what all the commotion was about.

"Tsunade, what is he doing here?", he asked firmly. It took her a while to respond, but when she looked at Sasuke, she snapped back into reality.

"What everyone else is doing here", she replied.

The guards from before ran onto the stage and grabbed Sasuke from behind unexpectedly. Gasps erupted from the stage and the audience. Fear was the only thing Sasuke could feel.

"No! Let him go!", Tsunade yelled.

The guards dragged him off the stage, and all Sasuke could think about would be how his parents were reacting right now. How all the royals were reacting right now. His family would view him as a disgrace.

"Get off of me!", Sasuke shouted as he squirmed to get out of the strong grips they held on him.

"Please, Danzo! Make them stop! This isn't fair! He should be allowed to do this like everyone else!", Tsunade continued to yell as she felt tears roll down her cheeks.

Danzo stood still and continued to watch the Uchiha get dragged back to the stairs, like a child being dragged back to his room. Tsunade knew she had to say something more than just about it being unfair. Unless it involved making money, Danzo was not going to care.

"Imagine how much the ratings would go up if you let him do this", she whispered in his ear.

That caught Danzo's attention, and it was enough to motivate him to run after the guards who were only seconds away from dragging Sasuke up the stairs. Luckily, he reached them in time.

"Unhand the prince", Danzo commanded as he blocked the exit. He held a kunai firmly in his hand, and stood in a stance that told the guards he meant business.

The guards both looked at each other, and one of them decided to let him go, while the other did not. This gave Sasuke the opportunity to punch the man who had a death grip on him in the face, and with the speed and agility he had, he turned around and punched the other guard in the face as well. Both guards were down on the floor, blood pouring from their noses, and a satisfied look on Sasuke's face.

"So I see that you have skill", Danzo said with a grin that Sasuke guessed was supposed to be friendly. It wasn't working for him.

"I'm a prince. They teach me how to fight so I can protect myself in case of an emergency", Sasuke retorted.

"Well I hope that whatever they taught you will be enough for what's in store"

* * *

Sasuke stood in line on stage with all the other people who were willing to risk their lives. The two men next to him would glance over at him about every thirty seconds, but he ignored it. He accepted the fact that he was the odd one out.

"Thank you for your patience everyone", Danzo said to the audience as well as everyone on stage.

The audience cheered, and Danzo flashed them the same creepy smile he'd flashed Sasuke. That man gave him the creeps.

"We will now determine how one of the twenty people in this line will be the allowed to participate in the trials", Tsunade said.

Sasuke stood anxiously, wondering how this would be fairly determined. He watched as Danzo and Tsunade handed their microphones to the security guards next to them. Both of them whispering to each other, which made Sasuke even more anxious. As he waited, he suddenly realized the mistake he'd made. It had never occured to him what he'd have to face if he lost whatever challenge they were going to throw at him, and the fact that the audience was chanting "Fight to the death" was not helping him calm down.

Tsunade and Danzo took back their microphones. Tsunade turned towards the line, flashing everyone a smile that was intended to be hopeful.

"I am thinking of a number one through fifty", Tsunade belted.

Sasuke looked just about as surprised as everyone else did, and the audience roared. Some of them cheered, some of them booed, and he could hear the man next to him grumble the words "Are you fucking kidding me".

"That's not fair!", Sasuke heard someone on stage shout.

"Of course it's fair. It's the same fairness as the lottery. If none of the other lottery winners had to fight for their place, then why should you?", Tsunade justified.

She did have a point. It wouldn't exactly be fair to make everyone fight each other until their was one person standing. The process would take too long anyways.

"We'll start at the beginning of the line", Tsunade said enthusiastically.

The audience stayed silent as each person shouted their number out loud. Sasuke had guessed the number thirty one, losing hope as everyone else continued to shout their numbers. What were the chances of him getting the number right?

"The number was thirty", Tsunade said to the audience.

Sasuke's heart stopped, and he couldn't remember if anyone had called out the number thirty.

"But no one said that number, and the closest guess was thirty one"

The whole line turned to look and see which one had the closest guess. By the angry stares that were planted on Sasuke, it didn't take long for everyone else to pick up on it.

"Prince Sasuke Uchiha, please step forward", Tsunade demanded.

"This is bullshit!", a young boy yelled furiously. Everyone else on the stage began to scream and argue, but Sasuke stepped forward gracefully. He wasn't sure if he'd actually guessed the number, or if it was a set up, but he didn't care. He beat the odds.

"Congratulations", she said to him.

The arena was so loud that Sasuke thought his eardrums were going to burst. He'd never been in a situation so terrifying but so exciting at the same time, and watched as nineteen angry commoners were escorted off the stage.

"Ladies and gentleman, it is time to show the faces of the other forty nine other winners!"

Sasuke looked around to see where the other winners could be entering from, and noticed that the curtains behind him were parting. Forty nine people ran, some walked, to the front of the stage where he was. Most of them waved at the audience, smiled, and laughed. Sasuke just stood there, unsure of how to feel or what to do.

"Take a bow everyone!", Tsuande said proudly.

Doing as he was told, Sasuke bowed along with everyone else. Everything at the moment seemed unreal, but he was glad it was happening. When he finished his bow, he heard an ear popping scream. He looked next to him and saw Tsunade fall to the ground. Everyone on stage, and in the audience freaked out, and Sasuke quickly got down on his knees to roll her body over. When he saw the kunai lodged in her stomach his heart stopped. He didn't know what to do, and couldn't take his eyes off of all the red that laid before him.

Someone's aim was either slightly off or directly on point, because Sasuke wasn't sure if the kunai was meant to hit her or him. Most likely, him.

* * *

That day, he travelled to a fancy hotel in the city along with the forty nine other winners. Unlike everyone else, he didn't have a suitcase, and on the train ride to the hotel, he didn't talk to the person next to him. It was hard to talk to anyone after being a foot away from a woman who had almost been killed. He was still in shock from what had happened, but he knew that what he had just signed up for was going to be ten times worse than what had happened on stage.

"You're very lucky", the girl next to him finally spoke.

Sasuke was startled that someone would attempt to make conversation with him. He was pretty sure that most of the people on the train hated him, and he could see why. Others probably saw him as a brat who was willing to throw his life away for more money and fame as if he didn't have enough. Hopefully, people would get to see his side of the story...eventually.

"What do you mean?", he asked.

He wasn't sure why he'd asked that, there were a lot of things she could be referring to.

"Everyone knows that kunai was meant for you"

The tone in her voice was calm and informing, as if Sasuke didn't already know it was meant for him.

"I'm aware of that", he said dismissively.

"But are you aware of how fortunate you are?"

He was not in the mood for her questions. The last thing he wanted to talk about was what had happened today.

"Yes I am", he replied as calmly as possible.

"I don't think you do", she said as she looked back out the window.

It took everything in Sasuke's control not to strangle her. How could someone be so rude?

"Well I don't care what you think of me. I don't care what anyone thinks of me", he said coldly.

"You should"

"And why is that", he hissed at her.

She tucked a lock of long brown hair behind her ear. She looked him in the eyes in a way that no one had ever done before. Sasuke was just waiting for her sarcastic, witty reply.

"Because allies are important to have. Look around you. Why do you think everyone else is interacting with each other as if they'd known each other for a long time"

The girl was right, everyone was chatting in hopes to have some people they could trust. Even though they'd probably turn around and stab each other in the back in the end.

"And tomorrow, you're going to have to tell the whole city of Konoha, on national television, why you chose to be in this game"

"You think this is some kind of game?", Sasuke asked, the anger in his voice being very apparent.

"In most ways, yes, but I doubt you'd know that. Most of us who wanted to be in the trials had mentors, people who would tell us how to strategize, how to make a make a fire, how to hunt for food"

Sasuke felt like a total idiot. Mostly, for not knowing how to do any of this. He didn't care if he couldn't really trust any of these people, he needed allies, and fast.

"What to say on television so people will _like_ us", the girl emphasized the word "like" which made Sasuke cringe.

"Why would the opinion of others help you survive?", he said as if it were the most illogical thing he'd ever heard.

The girl shook her head, as if Sasuke knew absolutely nothing, which was basically true.

"People place bets on who they want to win, and donate money to these people. These donations go to an organization that will deliver special supplies and food to you during the trials. That is, if you can get people to want you to win"

"So that's why this is a game to you?"

"Yes, you can easily make up any sob story you want to get as many pity donations as possible"

Sasuke's jaw almost dropped, but he soon realized that he shouldn't be so surprised. Food and supplies would be the most important thing to have.

"I'm sure a lot of last years winners benefited from lying to the audience"

Sasuke sat there speechless.

"I suggest that we become allies, and that you start to think of a sob story that will make people pity you so you can win. But it's not going to be easy, considering that everyone knows you come from riches", she scoffed.

Sasuke narrowed her eyes at the pale brunette. He really didn't like her, especially because she looked a lot like a certain brunette he was supposed to marry. Hell, she probably knew the same amount of information on how to win as TenTen. It was TenTen who told him what the trials were in the first place. If she hadn't told him, he most likely wouldn't be here, since it seemed like no one in his family really knew about the trials.

"I don't need a sob story to get donations"

And with that being said, they did not talk until they got to the hotel.

* * *

**A/N: Pleeease review! Tell me what you think of this so far :) Hope you enjoyed! **


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